The years faded away, and she was a young girl again, filled with bitterness because she couldn't walk, couldn't dance, and then Gabriel had come into her life, and her whole world had turned upside down.
"That was beautiful," she murmured when the song ended. "You must have been the most sought after minstrel of your time. No doubt women swooned at your feet."
"There were those who paid handsomely for my talent," Gabriel allowed. "Some paid in coin of the realm, and others..." He shrugged, but his meaning was clear.
"I'm sure you must have made a fortune," Sarah said dryly.
"I had no need to work."
Taking Sarah by the hand, he led her into the parlor. Sitting down in the room's only chair, he pulled her onto his lap, his mood turning suddenly dark as he remembered the wealth Nina had showered on him the night he had been made vampire. In the years since then, he had made a multitude of wise, long-term investments. Money was the least of his worries, he thought.
"I guess I don't needto work, either," Sarah said, "but I need something to do, something to occupy my mind. Can't you understand that?"
He understood, but he did not like the idea of her working, of being out in the world of mortal men. He knew that wanting her to stay home was an antiquated notion, as outdated as the horse-and-buggy and gaslights. Nevertheless, he found some of the world's modern ideas difficult to accept.
"Isn't there something you could do at home to pass the time?" he asked.
"Well, I suppose I could try decorating the house." Sarah glanced around the spartanly furnished parlor. "Most of the rooms are conspicuously empty."
"Do whatever you like," Gabriel said, relieved that she had given in so readily. "Buy whatever you wish. Spend as much as you need. All I ask is that you be here when I rise."
It was in her mind to argue. She was an independent woman, after all, accustomed to coming and going as she pleased. If she wanted to work, he couldn't stop her. Modern women were no longer considered chattel, subservient to their husbands' every command, as women had been in Gabriel's time.
And yet, what was the point in arguing? She wantedto be here when he woke up, to spend every possible moment with him. And, deep down, she didn't really want to go to work. She knew it was old-fashioned and decidedly unpopular with the women of the '90s, but she liked the idea of being "just a housewife." What could be more important than making a home for the man she loved?
Shopping was something Sarah did well, and she went on a mammoth shopping spree. At Gabriel's urging, she indulged her every whim, buying whatever caught her fancy.
As a child, she had spent hours playing make-believe, and now, as she turned her attention to decorating the house, she pretended that she and Gabriel were no different from any other couple.
While she shopped, she pretended Gabriel was like any other man, busy at the office instead of sleeping in the cellar. She took the Jag and went shopping at the best furniture stores in town, and when she couldn't find what she wanted there, she went browsing through the antique shops. She bought a round oak table and two chairs, a lovely four-drawer chest, a drop-leaf desk.
Life fell into a pleasant routine. A hot and humid August gave way to a hotter September. When she tired of shopping, she went swimming, or lounged beside the pool, reading or just relaxing. Sometimes she rode Necromancer around the corral, reveling in the sense of power she experienced while riding the big black stallion. He was a beautiful horse, with clean lines, a coat that gleamed like ebony satin, and a silky mane and tail.
In the evening, she ate dinner before sunset, took a quick shower, then went into the parlor to wait for Gabriel, pretending he was coming home from a hard day at the office instead of rising from a deathlike sleep.
It was a good life, marred only by the fact that, once each week just after midnight, Gabriel left the house. At those times, knowing he was going out to feed, Sarah found it impossible to pretend they were just an ordinary couple.
Now was such a time. She watched as he slipped on a black Long Rider coat, then pulled on a pair of black kidskin gloves.
She felt faintly sick to her stomach as she imagined